30th Anniversary of Wartime Hero’s Killing Marked in Bosnia

Srdjan Aleksic's father said on Friday that the tributes paid to his son, who died 30 years ago and has become a rare symbol of wartime tolerance, are keeping him alive.

As he arranged flowers on his son's grave in the city of Trebinje, Rade Aleksic proudly showed off a pot on which unknown mourners had written the message: "To a fellow citizen - a hero."

Srdjan Aleksic died on January 27, 1993 as a result of a beating by Bosnian Serb reservist troops after he tried to defend a Muslim friend, Alen Glavovic, from being attacked in the market in Trebinje.

The story of Aleksic's wartime stand, at a point when Serbs and Bosniaks were enemies, spread across the former Yugoslavia. Several towns in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro have paid homage to Aleksic by naming streets after him.

Rade Aleksic said that his son's good deed should be "a sign pointing towards goodness, virtuousness, for the destruction of all evil in this world".

The president of the Trebinje city assembly, Dragoslav Banjak, also came to pay tribute to Aleksic at his grave on the anniversary of his death.

"Remembering Srdjan Aleksic, but also many other heroes who did similar things, helps us to understand, among other things, the horrors of war and the madness that constantly accompanies such a situation, and on the other hand, helps people to become even closer in times of peace," said Banjak.

He said that a sports complex and an international swimming meeting in Trebinje have been named after Aleksic.

"That's how we keep a lasting memory of him," Banjak added.